Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP speaking following a meeting with An
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Government Buildings this evening said that there
was an urgent need for the two governments to actively promote the Good
Friday Agreement. He said that ``republican confidence was being slowly
corroded because of what is happening at interface areas and the failure of
the British government to fulfil their obligations under the Good Friday
Agreement.'' Mr. Adams said:

``At a time when there are so many crucial issues to be dealt with including
the Nice Treaty referendum and the threatened war in Iraq it is important
that we also keep our focus on defending and promoting the Good Friday
Agreement and advancing the peace process.

``On Saturday afternoon we had the attempted sectarian murder of three
Catholics in North Belfast and earlier in the week we had the attempted
murder of a man on the Springfield Road in West Belfast. We also have the
upcoming UUC meeting and the ongoing crisis within unionism which is
threatening the political institutions. We are in danger of the process
almost being reduced to what I referred to last week as the Save Dave
Process.

``This evening I spoke with the Taoiseach about the need for the two
governments to actively promote the Good Friday Agreement. We also
discussed the difficulties in the peace process, the need for the British to
honour commitments on policing, the ongoing loyalist sectarian campaign and
the issue of northern representation in the Oireachtas.''